Ventilating apparatus



Jan. 27, 1942. F. HONERKAMP VENTILATING APPARATUS Filed Oct. 4, 1958 Patented Jan. 27,1942

vaurm'rmo APPARATUS Friedrich Honerk amp, New York, N. Y., aselgnor to Anemostat Corporation of America, a corporation of Delaware Application October 4, 1938, Serial No; 233,148

8 Claims. (01. 98-40) This invention relates to ventilating apparatus, and has for its general object to provide, on

the one hand, improved valve means for regulatin the amount of air delivered from an air supply duct to an air outlet device and, on the other hand, to provide improved means to assure that fresh or treated air delivered from an air duct into a room or other enclosure shall be efiectively I mixed with the air of the room or other enclosure.

A special object of the invention is to provide a valve means for regulating the amount of air delivered from an air supply duct to an air outlet device, which valve means is of simple, inexpensive construction, is readily and easily installable in an air supply duct, is readily, easily and noiselessly adjustable, and is efllcient in the performance of its function.

' Another special object of the invention is to provide a simple, practical means which, in itself, insures an eilicient intermixing of fresh ortreated air supplied from a duct to. a room or other enclosure, with. the air of the room or other enclosure, even in the absence of an air diffusing outlet device, and which, when used in association with an air difiusing outlet device. nsures;

a much more thorough intermixing of the supplied air with the air of the room or other enclosure than is obtained icy use oi the air diffusing outlet device alone.

Another special object of the invention is not only to provide an improved valve means for the 1 purpose stated and an improved means as indicated for insuring a highly eflicient intermixture of supplied air with the air of a room or other enclosure into which the supplied air is delivered, but to combine said valve meansand said air mixing means in a practical unitary structure.

Withthe foregoing and other objects in view, which will become more fully apparent as the nature of the invention is better understood, the

, same consists in the novel features of construction, combination and arrangement of parts as will be hereinafter more fully described, illus trated in the accompanying drawing and defined in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawing, wherein like characters of reference denote corresponding partsinthe different views:

Figure 1 is a central, longitudinal section through an air supply duct and an associated air outlet device, illustrating the association there with or a valve means and an air mixture insuring means in accordance with one practical embodiment of the invention; and

Figure 2 is a horizontal section on the line 22 of Fig. 1.

Referring to the drawing in detail, A designates, generally, afresh or treated air supply duct having in a wall ll thereof an opening ii through which air is to be delivered from said duct to a room or other enclosure, and B desi nates, generally, an air outlet device connected with said duct A in air receiving relationship to said opening II.

While, in accordance with the invention, the use of an air outlet device B is not essential, such a device preferably is employed. Moreover, while an air outlet device B, it used, may be of any known, or desired type, the same preferably is or the type shown comprising a plurality of successively larger, open-ended, hollow flaring members 62 disposed in spacedapart rela-= tionship to provide a plurality oi air distributing passageways therebetween, because it has been found that an air outletdevice of this type is highly eficient in dividing the supplied air into a plurality of separate streams of reduced velocity and in thereby causing it to be delivered substantially draftlessly into a room or other enclosure.

In accordance with the invention and regardless 01' whether an air outlet device B is or is notv used, and regardless of the particular construc-' tion of such device if same is used, there is provided within the supply duct A suitable means to insure that air flowing from said duct through the opening ii shall have imparted thereto a motion such as to cause it to become rapidly and thoroughly mixed with the air of a room or other enclosure into which it is delivered. In the present instance this means comprises an auxiliary duct, designated generally as A, formed to lead air from the duct A to the opening it and to impart to air led from said duct A to said opening ii a helical or rotary motion. Air pass ing from the auxiliary duct A through the opening H has a natural motion away from the duct A axially or substantially axially with respect to said opening ii, and this motion or the air, coin--- duct A in any suitable manner 'means may he -provided the same. In

- inner wall IQ of the duct A,

' to said'plate y said duct is constructed to providewithin the main duct A a chamber a having a closed substantially semi-cylindrical rear end portion ll! of substantially the same diameter as the opening H and alined therewith, and an open, air inlet,

front end portion l4 facing the direction of air,

- relative to therear end portion thereof.

While the auxiliary duct A may be formed in any suitable manner, one practical manner of forming the same is first to provide the side and inner walls thereof, designated as 15 and I6, respectively, as a unit and then to rivet, weld or otherwise suitably fasten the side walls [5 at their outer edges to the wall in of the main duct A. Thereby, the said wall [0 of the main duct A is made to serve also as the outer wall of the auxiliary duct A. i

In order to regulate the amount of air which may flow through the auxiliary duct A to the opening I I, there is provided within the substantiallyserni-cylindrical rear end portion 13 of said auxiliary duct a .valve designated generally as C. This valve is in the form of a substantially semicylindrical wall I! which snugly flts the said substantially semi-cylindrical rear end portion it of the duct A and is rotatable therein. Accordingly, by rotating said valve it obviously acts to vary the effective area of the duct A through which air may flow from the main duct A to the opening Ii. Moreover, since said valve and the rear end portion of the duct A both are of substantially semi-cylindrical shape, it is apparent that by rotatable adjustment of said valve'th'e auxiliary duct may be fully opened for flow of air therethrough or may be fully closed to cut-oi! all air flow to the opening ll.

The=valve C may be rotatably mounted in the and any suitable for rotatably adjusting this connection and as illustrated in the drawing; one practical manner of mount ing said valve for free rotation and of providing for its convenient adjustment, is to provide the same with a stem 18 disposed axially with rerespect thereto; to journal the inner end portion of said stem in an opening in the inner wall l6 of the auxiliary duct A: to Journal the outer end portion of said stem in the air outlet device 13; to provide either the valve or said stem with an abutment to contact the inner face of the and to provide said stem with an abutment to engage the outer face of the said wall Ii -oi said duct A. The valve thus is held not only against endwise movement,

but also against sidewise movement and it may therefore have a slight clearance from the side wall l5 of the duct A wherebyit may be freely and noiselessl rotated by means of a knob, handle or the like Is on the outer end of the stem I8;

For fastening the stem It to the valve C the latter may be provided with radial arms, spokes or thedike supporting a bearing or hearings, in which thestem l8 may be fastened. or, equivalently, and as shown the valve may be closed at its inner end by a plate 20 in the form of a segment or disk having an opening through which and said stem may be fastened means of a pair of nuts ii hand, in order to hold said valve C against endwise outward movement, a disk or washer 23 may be fastenered by a screw 24 against the inner" end of the stem l8 for cooperation with the outer face or the wall l6 of the duct A.

A bearing for the front end portion of the stem It; may be comprised either by the inner end portion 25 of the smaller or innermost flaring member i2 01 the air outlet device B or by a bearing block 26 mounted in said innermost flaring member, or by both the inner end portion of said innermost flaring member and a bearing block such as the block 26 mounted therein. Alternatively, if an air outlet is not used, or if there is used an air outlet deviceof a difierent type'from the device shown, a front bearing for the stem may be provided in any suitable manner. In any event, since the stem 18 is eflectively journaled for free rotation, and since the valve 0 is, in effect, carried by said stem l8 and may, therefore, have slight clearances at all points from the auxiliary duct A, said valve C is freely, easily and noiselessly adjusted by small rotative effort ex erted upon the knob or handleis which is exposed for finger engagement at the front of the air outlet device 13.

The foregoing description and the illustration in the drawing assumes that the main supply duct is provided with a plurality of outlet openings ll. Accordingly, the auxiliary duct A'- is of lesser cross sectional area than the duct A so as to lead to the opening Ii only some of the air passing through the duct A and to permit'the re-' mainder of the air passing through said duct A to reach one or more other outlet openings. However, the duct A may be a branch duct sup? plying air to only a single opening H. In that event, the auxiliary duct may obviously be eliminated and the duct may itself be formed to lead the air to the opening II in the same manner as the auxiliary duct A. In other words the duct may have the same general form as the auxiliary duct A shown and described. In either case, the

sults in the air tending to flow laterally outward within the rounded rear end portion I I of the duct A or A, as the case may be, and also laterally outward during its flow through and beyond the opening H. Consequently, the delivery of the air is desirable laterally outward as well as forwardly anddesirably equal in all directions laterally. Moreover, and as is apparent, air flowing through the outlet device B, if same is provided. not only is divided into separate streams and diffused, but is delivered from said device with a spiral motion whereby it becomes rapidly and thoroughly intermixed with the air of the room or the like into which it is delivered.

Preferably the opening II and any duct leading therefrom have greater cross sectional areas than the duct A or A, as the case may be.

through which air is supplied to and through said even though-the valve C may be fully open. However, the duct n or A, as the case may be, may have a greater cross sectional area than the opening H and any duct leadingtherefrom and adjustment of the valve C may be relied upon to obtain any desired reduction in velocity of the delivered air as comparedwith the velocity of the supplied air.

, Without further description it is thought that the featuresand advantages of the invention will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and it will of course be understood that changes in the form, proportion and minor details of construction may be resorted to, without departing fromthe spirit of the invention and scope of the appended claims.

I claim: 1. Ventilating apparatus comprising a main air supply duct having an air outlet opening, and an supply duct having an opening and an auxiliary duct within said main duct having a' substantially semi-cylindrical closed rear end portion alined with said opening and additionally having a portion in advance of said closed rear end portion, as regards the direction of air flow through said main duct, open at its front and disposed tangentially with respect to said closed rear end portion for cooperation with the latter to cause air flowing from said main duct to said opening through said main duct, open at its front and to have a helical motion imparted thereto, and

a substantially semi-cylindrical valve mounted in the substantially semi-cylindrical closed rear end portion ofsaid duct for rotation to regulate the amount of air flowing through said duct to said opening.

3. Ventilating apparatus comprising a main air supply duct having an opening and an auxiliary duct within said main duct having a substantially semi-cylindrical closed rear end portion alined with said opening and additionally having a portion in advance of said closed rear end portion, as regards thedirection of air flow through said main duct, open at its front and disposed tangentially with respect to said closed rear end portion for cooperation with the latter-to cause alined with said opening and additionally having a portion in advance ofsaid closed rear end portion, as regards the direction of air flow disposed tangentially with respect to said closed rear end portion for cooperation with the latter to cause air flowing from said main duct to said opening to have a helical motion imparted thereto, said rear end portion of said auxiliary duct including a side wall and an inner wall an air Outlet device mounted in air receiving relationship to said opening, a substantially semi-cylindrical valve disposed in the substantially semicylindrical closed rear end portion of said auxiliary duct, a stem carried by said valve, and means providing spaced journal bearings for said stem, one in the inner wall of said auxiliary duct and the other in saidoutlet device, thereby to rotatably mount said stem and consequently to rotatably mount said valve-for rotation to regulate the amount of air flowing through said duct to said opening.

5. Ventilating apparatus comprising a main air supply duct having an opening and an auxiliary duct within said main duct having a substantially semi-cylindrical closed rear end portionalined with said opening and additionally having a portion in advance of said closed rear end portion, as regards the direction of air flow through said main duct, open at its front and disposed tangentially with respect to said closed rear end portion for cooperation with the latter to cause air flowing from said main duct to said opening to have a helical motion imparted thereto, a substantially semi-cylindrical valve disposed in the substantially semi-cylindrical closed rear end portion of said duct, a stem carried by said valve, and means mounting said stem rotatably and against endwise movement, thereby to hold said valve against endwise movement and to mount said valve for rotation to regulate the amount of air flowing through said duct to said opening.

6. Ventilating apparatus comprising a main air supply duct having an air outlet opening, and an auxiliary duct within said main duct defining a, substantially semi-cylindrical chamber axially alined with said opening and having an open front facing the direction of air flow through the main duct, whereby part of the air flowing through the main duct is directed through said opening, and a substantially semi-cylindrical valve rotatably cooperating with said substantial- 1y semi-cylindrical chamber to regulate flow of air from said main duct through said auxiliary duct to said opening.-

7. Ventilating apparatus comprising an air thereof, a substantially semi-cylindrical valve in valve, and means for mounting said stem rotat-' v ably and against endwise movement in the inner wall of said auxiliary duct, thereby to mount said valve for rotation to regulate the amount 91' air flowingthrough said auxiliary duct to said opening.

4. Ventilating apparatus comprising a main air supply duct having an opening and an auxiliary,

said substantially semi-cylindrical end 01 said duct, said valve being open at its bottom and including a wall closing its top, a valve stem disposed axially of said valve and fixed thereto, said stem being iournaled in-the top wall of said duct for rotation, means carried by said stem and cooperating with the wall defining the top of said duct to hold said stem and valve against downward movement, and journal means for said stem fixed with respect to said duct and spaced downwardly from the journal of said stem in the wall defining the top of said duct whereby said stem and valve are held against sidewise movement relative to the semi-cylindrical end of said duct.

8. Ventilating apparatus comprising an air supply duct, walls defining theside's, top and bottom oi said duct, said duct being of closed substantially semi-cylindrical form at one end and having at said end an opening in the wall defining the bottom thereof, a valve in the said end of said duct rotatably adjustable to control flow of air through the duct into the said closed end thereoi and from said closed end through the opening in said bottom wall, said valve including a curved side wall disposed closely adjacent to and concentrically with respect to the curved side wall of the closed end 01 said duct,

a stem upon which said valve is mounted, said stem being disposed axially of said valve, the

wall defining the top of said duct having a bearing in which the upper end of said stem is journaled, another bearing spaced below said first mentioned bearing and'flxed with respect to said duct and in which a lower portion of said stem,

is journaled whereby the valve is mounted for rotary adjustment, and means for rotatably adjusting said valve to regulate the amount of air from the closed end of said duct.

flowing into and 1 FRIEDRICH HONERKAMP. 

